Apparatus for treating fabrics with steam

ABSTRACT

Apparatus is provided for use in treating dyed fabric with steam to fix the dye thereon which includes a horizontally positioned steam autoclave, winding reel means movably positioned into and out of the autoclave, the winding reel means including a support shaft and a plurality of groove support arms extending radially outwardly from each end of the support shaft into which bar means are horizontally mounted and span the distance between pairs of complementary support arms of the reel and around which the fabric to be treated is wrapped. Bar support cams are mounted on the support shaft in coaxial relationship and includes means to shift the cams. The invention also includes the method of dyeing such fabric.

United States Patent [191 Miyamoto et a1.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING FABRICS WITH STEAM Inventors: Tadashi Miyamoto;Masaaki Iwahashi, both of Wakayama, Japan Assignee: Wakayama Iron WorksLtd.,

Wakayama-shi, Japan Filed: Nov. 7, 1973 Appl. No.: 413,526

Foreign Application Priority Data July 26, 1973 Germany 2337874 US. Cl68/5 C, 34/239, 242/77.l Int. Cl. D060 1/00 Field of Search 68/5 C, 7,8, 157, 199;

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10/1911 Payet 242/77.1 X 4/1931Walker 242/77.1 X

6/1932 Walker 242/77.1 3/1945 Smith .4 242/77.1 X

[ Mar. 11, 1975 3,011,327 12/1961 Brownell 68/5 C FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS 22,060 10/1892 Great Britain .1 68/157 PrimaryExaminer-Billy .1. Wilhite Assistant ExaminerPhilip R. Coe Attorney,Agent, or Firm-Hall & Houghton [57] ABSTRACT Apparatus is provided foruse in treating dyed fabric with steam to fix the dye thereon whichincludes a horizontally positioned steam autoclave, winding reel meansmovably positioned into and out of the autoclave, the winding reel meansincluding a support shaft and a plurality of groove support armsextending radially outwardly from each end of the support shaft intowhich bar means are horizontally mounted and span the distance betweenpairs of complementary support arms of the reel and around which thefabric to be treated is wrapped. Bar support cams are mounted on thesupport shaft in coaxial relationship and includes means to shift thecams. The invention also includes the method of dyeing such fabric.

5 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTED 1 v 8.868.882 sum u ur s APPARATUSFOR TREATING FABRICS WITH STEAM DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION.

The present invention relates to apparatus for treating fabrics with hotsteam after such fabrics have been subjected to a dyeing operation forthe purpose of fixing the dye in the dyed fabrics and to aid in thecolordevelopment thereof. Heretofore, a fabric after it has been dyed issubjected to steaming either single or with an undercloth placedthereunder to effect the fixation of the dye in the dyed fabric and toaid in the colordevelopment thereof. In this connection, the applicationof steaming to the fabric uniformly over the entire surface of thefabric is of the utmost importance in order to prevent unevenness ofcolor-development and other drawbacks. Furthermore, there has been aneed for apparatus of this type which makes it possible to achieve anincreased amount of treatment per apparatus unit and which can alsopermit treatment of fabrics of a wider width.

The conventional vertical steamer wherein a fabric to be treated with anundercloth placed thereunder is widthwise suspended in a vertical steamoven or autoclave possesses several drawbacks. For example, theconventional vertical steamer of this type comprises an upright supportrod disposed centrally of the steam oven and has on the top thereofradially extending suspension arms provided with suspension attachments,wherein one side of the undercloth are successively locked by saidsuspension attachments so that the geminated fabric is suspended fromthe suspension arms while being maintained in a circinate form. In suchcase, the fabric to be treated is contacted with the undercloth onopposite sides and thereby frictionally held and suspended in a freestate. Such circinategeminated fabric with the fabric to be treated heldby the undercloth is then subjected to seaming by hot steam, i.e.,superheated steam which penetrates the same. The steam is blown from thelower region of the steam oven autoclave, passing upwardly between thecircinate layers of the fabric, then having its direction of travelreversed by reversing means, such movement of the steam being repeatedwith the steam circulating, during which it penetrates the fabric tocarry out the steaming treatment. In the vertical steamer, since thefabric to be treated is held by the undercloth and maintained insuspended condition by the friction created therebetween as describedabove, it tends to sag or slip down under its own weight if the fabricto be treated is too heavy. Such tendency imposes restrictions on theamount of treatment per oven and on the fabric width in the case oftreatment of wider fabrics, thus failing to meet the recent requirementsoriented toward treatment of wider fabrics. Further, in order to preventformation of water drops which would spoil the fabric to be treated, thetemperature of the upper region of the oven or autoclave where suchwater drops are likely to form is raised by blowing hot steam into saidregion. But in such cases, the temperature distribution in the ovenbecomes ununiform, and moreover, since the fabric is stationary in thesuspended condition, steaming cannot be applied uniformly. Further, themounting and dismounting of the undercloth placed under the fabric isvery troublesome.

In the conventional steaming process using the socalled horizontalsteamer is opposed to said vertical steamer, the fabric to be treated iswound on a take-up reel either singly or with the undercloth placedthereunder and the resulting geminated fabric is installed in the ovenor autoclave where it is then subjected to steaming. Therefore, thereare advantages that the amount of treatment per oven is greater than inthe case of the vertical steamer and that wider fabrics can be treated.On the other hand, since the fabric is wound directly on the take-upreel in layers, it is difficult for the steam to penetrate deep into thelayers of fabric. Thus, since the steaming cannot be applied uniformlyover the entire fabric, there is the disadvantage of detracting from thequality of the fabric.

The present invention is intended to produce a treated fabric havingnone of the aforementioned defects and provides a method and anapparatus the aforementioned method, which constitutes improvements inthe horizontal steamer type, wherein a fabric to be treated is wound inseveral separate stratums and hot steam is blown into the steam oven atsuitable intervals of time. in such a manner as to alternately createhigher and lower pressure conditions in the oven with the fabricmaintained in a relaxed condition to allow the steam to uniformlypenetrate the fabric to assure stable fixation of the dye, therebymaking it possible to treat fabrics, particularly wider fabrics in largeamounts without involving unevenness of color-development.

One form of the present invention is a method invention wherein inwinding a fabric to be treated on a takeup reel either singly or with anundercloth placed under said fabric, the winding is divided into severalseparate stratums of suitable thickness and, during steaming operation,with the winding tension relieved the take-up reel is slowly rotatedalternately in forward and reverse directions.

A second form of the present invention is a method wherein, in additionto said first method invention, hot steam, i.e., superheated steam, isblown into the steam oven autoclave at predetermined intervals of timein such a manner as to alternately create higher and lower pressureconditions in the steam oven. The other two forms of the presentinvention are apparatus inventions used for embodying said methodinventions. One of said apparatus inventions comprises a horizontallyinstalled steam oven having a removable closure plate on one side and onthe other side steam blowing means disposed in the interior and aworking shaft driven from the outside, a support table capable of beingeasily taken in and out of the steam oven, and a take-up reel composedof grooved support arms mounted onboth ends of a rotary shaft journaledon said support table in such a manner that said support arms extendradially with their open sides opposed to each other, a number of barshorizontally mounted with their opposite ends fitted in said groovedsupport arms, and bar support cams each having alternate ridges andrecesses formed around the periphery thereof to support opposite ends ofsaid bars, said bar support cams being mounted rotatably on andcoaxially with said rotary shaft, said take-up reel being slowly rotatedalternately in forward and reverse directions during steaming. The otherapparatus invention comprises, in addition to said first, apparatus,steam blowing means for blowing saturated steam into the steam ovenduring steaming at predetermined intervals of time in such a manner asto alternately create higher and lower pressure conditions in the steamoven.

The present invention will now be described in more detail withreference to the drawings showing an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a front view, in longitudinal section, of a steam oven orautoclave made in accordance with the present inventive apparatus, saidsteam oven being shown in operation;

FIG. 2 is a side view, in longitudinal section, of the steam oven shownin FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view of a take-up reel shown when the fabric windingoperation is being carried out;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the take-up reel shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of some of the separate stratums;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the take-up reel shown when steaming operationis being carried out;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view showing the bar support part of thetake-up reel; and

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing how to use the present inventiveapparatus.

Designated at 1 is a steam oven or autoclave which is horizontallypositioned. The steam oven is composed of an oven body 1 and a closureplate 1". The closure plate 1" is fixed in position by attachments suchas clutches 2. A working shaft 3 adapted to be driven by suitable drivemeans extends into the oven body 1'. Further, steam blowing means 4 areprovided inside the oven 1 for blowing steam, such as, for example,superheated steam, into the oven. Part of the upper inner wall of thesteam oven 1 is composed of a double wall plate 5 so that hot steam isblown into the space defined by said double wall plate to heat the upperinner wall. Installed inside the oven 1 on the bottom thereof are rails6 which are connectible to mating outside rails to be brought theretofrom the side of the closure plate 1". Designated at 7 is a take-up reelrotatably mounted on the support table 8. During steaming, the shaft 10of the take-up reel 7 on which a fabric to be treated is wound iscoaxially connected to the working shaft 3 and rotated by rotating theworking shaft 3. The support table 8 is carried by wheels 9 for movementalong the rails 6.

As shown in FIGS. 3 through 7, the take-up reel comprises a plurality ofgrooved support arms 11 of U- shaped cross-section with one side openarranged on circular lateral plates 13, 13 on opposite sides on acylindrical shaft 12 in such a manner that they extend radially inopposed equispaced relation, said cylindrical shaft 12 being fitted inposition to be coaxial with the rotary shaft 10. Each bar 15 has rollersl6, 16 on opposite ends thereof made of an elastic material such asrubber and loosely fitted in the guide grooves 14 in the opposed groovedsupport arms 11, whereby said bars 15 are horizontally mounted in saidarms 11. Thus, such bars 15, when horizontally mounted, are superposedone upon another.

Rotatable bar support cams 17 are mounted on the cylindrical shaft 10 ofthe take-up reel 7 on opposite sides inwardly of the grooved supportarms 11. Thus, as shown, such bar support cam 17 comprises a groovedannulus 18 having a peripheral groove in which the same number of camrollers 19 as the number of grooved support arms 11 are rotatably fittedwith part of each cam roller projecting outside the peripheral groove.Therefore, the circumferential surface of such bar support cam 17 has aplurality of ridges 19 defined by said cam rollers 19'. Such cam rollersmay not necessarily be employed and instead other element having araised curve similar thereto may be used.

Designated at 20 is a lever for rotating the associated bar support cam,said lever being manually moved to rotate the cam 17 so that the bars 15may be supported by the ridges 19 or by recesses 21 each defined betweenadjacent ridges. Pins 22 are associated with the levers 20 to lock them,e.g., to the circular lateral plates 13 in order to selectively fix thebar support earns 17 in connection with either the ridges 19 or therecesses 21. Designated at 23 is a stop ring serving as a guide for therotation of the associated bar support cam 17.

A fabric 24 to be treated is wound on the take-up reel 7 either singlyor with an undercloth 25 placed thereunder to form a geminated fabric26. The following description refers to the geminated fabric 26. Thewinding operation is carried out outside the steam oven or autoclave lby automatically fitting the bars 15 loosely in the grooved support arms11 by suitable drive means. More particularly, as shown in FIG. 8, thereis provided bar supply means 27 for sending bars 15 rolling down ontothe take-up reel 7 on the support table 8, and the shaft 10 of thetake-up reel 7 is connected to suitable drive means 28 whereby thetake-up reel is rotated and, as shown in FIGS. 3 through 5, bars 15 aresuccessively introduced into the grooved support arms 11, one bar ineach support arm, said bars thus introduced being supported on theridges 19 of the bar support cams 17. When the first group of bars 15have thus been horizontally mounted, the feeding of bars is interruptedand the geminated fabric 26 is wound therearound in a fixed thicknessinto the form of a polygon to form a first wound stratum, whereupon asecond group of bars 15 are introduced and the fabric is similarly woundtherearound to form a second wound stratum, such introduction of barsand winding of the fabric being continuously repeated until severalseparate polygonal wound stratums a are formed. Since the arms 15 whichare successively horizontally mounted have their rollers 16 placed oneupon another within the grooves 14 of the grooved support arms 11, thesplit wound stratums may have any desired thickness up to a valueapproximately equal to the diameter of the rollers 16. Thus, thegeminated fabric 26, as a whole, is wound into a continuous circinateform.

The support table 8 carrying the take-up reel on which the geminatedfabric 26 has thus been wound is then moved through the opened closureplate 1" into the steam oven 1' for installation therein, and theclosure plate 1" is then tightly closed, with the shaft 10 beingconnected to the working shaft 3. The latter shaft is then driven, whilesteam is blown from the steam blowing means to carry out steamingoperation.

In this case, before the take-up reel 7 is conveyed into the steam oven1, the levers 20 are manipulated so that the bars 15 which were beingsupported by the ridges 19 during winding operation may be supported bythe recesses 21 of the support cams 17, as shown in FIG. 6. As a result,when the take-up reel 7 is rotated, the bars 15 in the upper half of thelowermost row are displaced from the ridges 19 into the recesses 21under their own weights. As this displacement takes place, the stackedbars 15 are moved toward the axis of the takeup reel 7 and the woundstratums of the geminated fabric 26 become wound stratums a with thetension relaxed, as shown in FIG. 6. In this manner, the geminatedfabric 26 is treated with steam in a substantially tensionlesscondition. In addition, depending upon the kind of a fabric to betreated, there are cases in which steaming is carried out with asubstantial tension maintained as in the wound condition with the barssupported on the ridges.

The working shaft 3, to which the shaft of the take-up reel 7 isconnected when placed within the steam oven 1, is adapted to be rotatedthrough a predetermined amount alternately in forward and reversedirections so that the take-up reel 7 is slowly rotated. The rotation ofthe take-up reel in a single direction would result in the woundstratums of fabric being laterally shifted or being wrinkled due to theweight of the fabric and the uneveuness of winding and of barresistance, whereas said forward and reverse rotation is effective toprevent the lateral shifting and wrinkling of the wound stratums offabric even if the tension on the wound fabric is relaxed. Further, italso serves to somewhat deviate the position of contact between the barsand the fabric whereby the occurrence of uneveuness of treatment due tobar contact is prevented. The steam, such as superheated steam from thesteam blowing means 4 is saturated steam. Thus, the interior of the ovenor autoclave is evacuated by a suction pump to create a vacuum pressureand steam is then fed thereto to pressurize the same, these operationsbeing repeated at predetermined intervals of time.

As a result, the steam becomes nearly 100% saturated steam, penetratingthe wound stratums of the geminated fabric 26 from both the inside andthe outside. If steam is fed to pressurize the interior of the oven whenthe latter has atmospheric pressure, the steam can hardly penetrate thewound stratums uniformly since air remains in the interior of the woundstratums.

When the interior of the oven is evacuated after treatment with hotsteam, the boiling point of water is lowered, so that the moisture whichhas condensed in the interior ofthe wound stratums begins to evaporate,thus making it possible to assure that the treated fabric is in a dryedcondition when taken out of the oven.

When the steaming operation is completed, the closure I" of the steamoven 1 is opened to take out the take-up reel 7 by means of the supporttable 8, and in the case of the geminated fabric 26 it is rewound whileseparating the treated fabric 24 and the undercloth 25 from each other.In addition, as shown in FIG. 8, a turntable 30 carrying rails 30' maybe installed in the intermediate portion of rails 29 for the supporttable so that the rails 30 may be connected to rails 31 which are atright angles to the rails 29. With this arrangement, the conveying ofthe fabric to be treated into the oven after being wound, thepositioning of a spare take-up reel 7' for the next winding operationand the removal of a take-up reel from the oven after completion ofsteaming operation can be smoothly carried out by suitably moving thesupport table.

It will be understood from the above that according to the presentinvention, in winding a fabric to be treated on a take-up frame eithersingly or with an undercloth placed under said fabric, the winding isdivided into several separate stratums of suitable thickness suitablyspaced apart from each other and that during steaming operation, withthe tension relieved the take-up reel is slowly rotated alternately inforward and reverse directions. Therefore, the contraction of the fabricwhich takes place during steaming operation can be readily absorbed andsteaming can be carried out always in a tensionless condition so thatthe steam uniformly acts on the fabric as far as the interior of thewound stratums. Further, hot steam is blown into the steam oven atpredetermined intervals of time in such a manner as to alternatelycreate higher and lower pressure conditions in the steam oven, thefabric can be uniformly treated throughout the area without anyunevenness of color-development. Further, the take-up reel in thepresent invention comprises grooved support arms mounted on both ends ofa rotary shaft in such a manner that said support arms extend radiallywith their open sides opposed to each other, and a member of bars.Withthis arrangement, since the winding of a fabric to be treated on thetake-up reel is carried out by horizontally fitting said bars in saidgrooved support arms, the fabric can be easily wound with the windingdivided into several separate stratums each carried on the associatedbar. Further, since support cams formed with ridges and recesses areused to support a first group of bars on said ridges during winding sothat the succeeding bars are stacked on said first group of bars tocarry out the winding of the fabric, the relaxation of the tension onthe fabric at the time of steaming operation can be positively effectedby rotating the bar support cams so as to support the bars in therecesses. Further, since take-up reel is slowly rotated alternately inforward and reverse directions, the position of contact between the barand the fabric to be treated is deviated little by little to avoidunevenness of treatment due to bar contact. Further, the lateralshifting and wrinkling of the wound stratums can also be avoided.

In the present invention, the steam oven used is of the horizontal typewherein the support table for the takeup reel is adapted to be capableof being taken in and out of the steam oven, and in some cases, aturntable for rail connection purposes may be provided. Therefore, witha spare take-up reel provided, the treatment with steam can be effectedcontinuously from the winding of the fabric and hence the efficiency oftreatment is high. Further, fabrics of greater width can be treated.High-quality finish is always assured.

Whiles there have been described herein what are at present consideredpreferred embodiments of the several features of the invention, it willbe obvious to those skilled in the art that modifications and changesmay be made without departing from the essence of the invention.

It is therefore to be understood that the exemplary embodiments thereofare illustrative and not restrictive of the invention, the scope ofwhich is defined in the appended claims and that all modifications thatcome within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims areintended to be included therein.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for use in treating dyed fabric with steam to fix the dyethereof comprising a horizontally positioned steam autoclave, a closureplate mounted at one end of said autoclave and openable to provide access thereinto, a rotatable drive shaft positioned in one end of saidautoclave and drivable by drive means positioned exteriorly of saidautoclave, steam generating means positioned within said autoclave topressurize same with steam, a support table positioned within saidautoclave, said support table having means to permit its ready insertioninto or withdrawl from said autoclave, a winding reel mounted on saidsupport table, said winding reel including a support shaft mounted onsaid support table and operably connected in detachable relationship toone end with one end of said drive shaft, a plurality of grooved supportarms extending radially outwardly from each end of said support shaft,the support arms of one end being complementary with the support arms ofthe other end, with the groove of each of the support arms facinginwardly from one end toward the inwardly facing groove of itscomplementary arm, a plurality of fabric supporting bar meanshorizontally mounted with their opposite ends removably fitted in thegrooves of each pair of complementary support arms and spanning thedistance therebetween, a pair of bar support cams rotatably mounted onand coaxially with said support shaft, said bar support cams havingalternate ridges and recesses formed around the peripheral surfacethereof to support opposite ends of said bar means and means forrotating said cams to a predetermined position to receive the oppositeends of said bar means in'the respective ridges or recesses.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, which further includes meansfor slowly rotating the winding reel alternately in forward and reversedirection during the steaming operation.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein suction means areoperatively connected to said autoclave to evacuate same.

4. Apparatus in accordance with claim I, wherein said bars have rollersprovided at each end thereof so as to maintain said bars in spaced apartrelationship.

5. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, which further includes windingmeans positioned exteriorly of said autoclave, said winding meansincluding a bar supply means for inserting a number of bars intocomplementary grooved support arms successively and intermittently atpredetermined intervals of time, fabric feeding means for feeding afabric on said winding means, and drive means for rotating said windingmeans.

1. Apparatus for use in treating dyed fabric with steam to fix the dyethereof comprising a horizontally positioned steam autoclave, a closureplate mounted at one end of said autoclave and openable to provideaccess thereinto, a rotatable drive shaft positioned in one end of saidautoclave and drivable by drive means positioned exteriorly of saidautoclave, steam generating means positioned within said autoclave topressurize same with steam, a support table positioned within saidautoclave, said support table having means to permit its ready insertioninto or withdrawl from said autoclave, a winding reel mounted on saidsupport table, said winding reel including a support shaft mounted onsaid support table and operably connected in detachable relationship toone end with one end of said drive shaft, a plurality of grooved supportarms extending radially outwardly from each end of said support shaft,the support arms of one end being complementary with the support arms ofthe other end, with the groove of each of the support arms facinginwardly from one end toward the inwardly facing groove of itscomplementary arm, a plurality of fabric supporting bar meanshorizontally mounted with their opposite ends removably fitted in thegrooves of each pair of complementary support arms and spanning thedistance therebetween, a pair of bar support cams rotatably mounted onand coaxially with said support shaft, said bar support cams havingalternate ridges and recesses formed around the peripheral surfacethereof to support opposite ends of said bar means and means forrotating said cams to a predetermined position to receive the oppositeends of said bar means in the respective ridges or recesses. 1.Apparatus for use in treating dyed fabric with steam to fix the dyethereof comprising a horizontally positioned steam autoclave, a closureplate mounted at one end of said autoclave and openable to provideaccess thereinto, a rotatable drive shaft positioned in one end of saidautoclave and drivable by drive means positioned exteriorly of saidautoclave, steam generating means positioned within said autoclave topressurize same with steam, a support table positioned within saidautoclave, said support table having means to permit its ready insertioninto or withdrawl from said autoclave, a winding reel mounted on saidsupport table, said winding reel including a support shaft mounted onsaid support table and operably connected in detachable relationship toone end with one end of said drive shaft, a plurality of grooved supportarms extending radially outwardly from each end of said support shaft,the support arms of one end being complementary with the support arms ofthe other end, with the groove of each of the support arms facinginwardly from one end toward the inwardly facing groove of itscomplementary arm, a plurality of fabric supporting bar meanshorizontally mounted with their opposite ends removably fitted in thegrooves of each pair of complementary support arms and spanning thedistance therebetween, a pair of bar support cams rotatably mounted onand coaxially with said support shaft, said bar support cams havingalternate ridges and recesses formed around the peripheral surfacethereof to support opposite ends of said bar means and means forrotating said cams to a predetermined position to receive the oppositeends of said bar means in the respective ridges or recesses. 2.Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, which further includes means forslowly rotating the winding reel alternately in forward and reversedirection during the steaming operation.
 3. Apparatus in accordance withclaim 1, wherein suction means are operatively connected to saidautoclave to evacuate same.
 4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1,wherein said bars have rollers provided at each end thereof so as tomaintain said bars in spaced apart relationship.